Florida avenged its 47-35 loss to Mississippi State last season with a 52-0 pounding. Rex Grossman threw for five touchdowns and Brock Berlin added a 23-yard scoring strike with 1:45 left to play. Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, who insisted the game wasn't about revenge, said he went for the last touchdown at the request of Clay Carter, a Florida equipment manager who was knocked out by Mississippi State fans storming the field last year.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Phil Petty threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rod Trafford with 2:18 left as No. 15 South Carolina beat Alabama for the first time ever, 37-36. The Gamecocks trailed, 36-24, with 9:01 remaining and looked in danger of going 0-11 against Alabama when Tide quarterback Tyler Watts scored on his second touchdown run. But then Petty completed five straight passes, the last for 27 yards to Derek Watson at Alabama's 2. Watson followed with a touchdown run that brought South Carolina to 36-30.

CLOSE CALLS

This was the sixth year in a row the Georgia Tech-Clemson matchup was decided by 3 points. This time, the Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak against Georgia Tech when Woody Dantzler ran 11 yards for a touchdown in overtime, giving Clemson a 47-44 victory.

FUMBLE AND BUMBLE

Virginia Tech and Central Florida combined for eight turnovers in the Hokies' 46-14 victory. Virginia Tech was able to score after each of U.C.F.'s three interceptions and two fumbles, but the Golden Knights were only able to turn one of Tech's three fumbles into a touchdown.

BY A THREAD

Michigan State missed an extra point and three field goals, then had an extra point blocked with 18 seconds left before Northwestern's David Wasielewski kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Spartans, 27-26.

CROWD CONTROL

The crowd of 87,206 at Texas A&M that saw the Aggies beat Notre Dame 24-3 was the largest ever to watch a football game in Texas.

TRICKERY

After losing 4 yards on its first four drives, Michigan used two trick plays to open the scoring in its 45-20 victory over Illinois. The backup quarterback Jermaine Gonzales caught a pass from wideout Marquise Walker and sprinted 51 yards, setting up a 21-yard pass from running back Walter Cross to Walker.

A GOOD START

Maryland Coach Ralph Freidgen is the second Maryland coach to start his first season 4-0. H.C. Byrd did it in 1978.

TOP PERFORMANCES

A STAR IS BORN

Brandon Hance, a freshman playing his first Big Ten game, threw three touchdown passes and caught a fourth to lead Purdue back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to a 35-28 victory in overtime. He also led the Boilermakers from their own 6 with 19 seconds left to the Gophers' 48 for a game-tying field goal with no time left.

RUN, PASS, RUN

Eric Crouch scored on a 95-yard run, the longest in school history, and rushed for a school quarterback-record 191 yards as Nebraska beat Missouri, 36-3.

CATCH, PASS, CATCH

Oklahoma's Antwone Savage caught touchdown passes of 63 and 75 yards from Nate Hybl, and threw a 33-yarder off a fake punt in the second quarter. The Sooners (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) needed those and more to win their nation-best 17th straight and 16th in a row at home.

DOMINANT PRESENCE

Woody Dantzler accounted for 418 of Clemson's 502 yards, throwing for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushing for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Tigers' 47-44 overtime victory.

RECORD BREAKER

Adrian Peterson ran for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns to tie an N.C.A.A. record with his 35th career 100-yard rushing game as Georgia Southern beat V.M.I., 31-14.

AIR PERRETT

Payton Perrett threw for 533 yards and 5 touchdowns, including a 15-yarder with 38 seconds left, to give Mississippi College a 36-32 victory over Sul Ross State.

Photo: Clemson's Woody Dantzler ran for the game-winning touchdown in overtime in the Tigers' 47-44 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday. (Associated Press)